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Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Introducing.....Banjo Slim (AKA: my brother!)

I am taking a departure from my regular blog topics, (namely things I bitch about, LOL!) to use another favorite B-word....BRAG! I want to blow the horn about my amazing and talented brother. He has started a newsletter and I am helping him to expand his audience and fan base by sharing it here. So, let me introduce the fantastic Jason Weiss....Banjo Slim himself!

BanjoSlim's
April 2012 eNewsletter

Hello Everybody,

Welcome
to the second issue of the BanjoSlim eNewsletter! You are the fortunate
receiver of this bounty of musical information because you are on my mailing
list. If you would like to be removed, please send an email to jason@banjoslim.com. Please forward this
eNewsletter to anyone who might be interested in it.

March
was filled with music, but it ended with sadness. On March 28, my hero, the
legendary Earl Scruggs passed away at the age of 88. His place of prominence in the banjo
world is well known by all. Though he didn't invent it, he revolutionized the
three-finger picking technique, turning it from a rare novelty to a unified
approach to playing any and all music on the banjo. What I am most grateful to
him for, though, is that he pioneered the transformation of the banjo from a
demeaned comedian's prop to a respected virtuoso's instrument.

Please
visit my website at banjoslim.com for
more information and updates.

THURSDAY
JAM NEWS

After
a discussion at the last Thursday Jam, I've decided to leave "Bluegrass
Basics" on the website and perpetually open to revision. Instead of having
preprinted copies of the entire songbook, jam regulars can print out copies of
individual songs to keep in a folder. I will print out some easily amendable
copies of the songbook for audience members and those who don't want to bother
with maintaining a folder. This system will allow us the freedom to revise the
songbook whenever we wish. And since Banjo Bob started this jam to be primarily
a learning environment, we can select tunes that highlight musical lessons to
be learned, for example.

Banjo
Benny asked me to pass on the message that he is forming a band. Talk to him at
the jam for more information if you're interested.

OTHER
NEWS

Although
I've have it for a couple of years now, I'm finally going to get with the
program and start using my twitter account. Of course, I have a facebook
accounts that I've been using for years. Please friend, follow, like, tweet,
and poke me at twitter.com/banjoslim and facebook.com/banjoslim.

Though
Plow had planned to record our St. Patrick's Day show up in Wynola last month,
the weather had other plans. That day saw plenty of rain and snow, and with it,
too many variables to risk an expensive venture such as professional mobile
recording. However, Plow is still eager to do a live recording, so further
bulletins as events warrant.

On
the subject of recordings, the Sickstring Outlaws have finished work on our
upcoming album, "Johnny Drank Jack." Production is complete and I
already have an advance copy. It really looks great (I know it sounds great
because we got Dennis Caplinger to lay down a bunch of tracks!). I warn you:
bluegrass it is not. The Sickstring Outlaws play a rowdy form of old country
music that the leader Ron Houston calls "outlaw country." On the
album, I play both acoustic and electric banjo, but when we play live, I play
solely electric. The album will be released very soon; we're just looking
for the right venue for a release party. Check out thesickstringoutlaws.com or my
website for information.

My
own recording project is still on track to be released this summer. No name
yet, but since one track is named "San Diego Home," I might use that
name for the whole album.

My
friends from the Julian Family Fiddle Camp wanted me to convey some
information: There's still room for
guitar and mandolin players at this month's
camp. Also, there's going to be a huge jam at Town Hall on Main Street in
Julian at 12:30PM on Saturday, April 14th, and
musicians get a 10% discount on anything bought in town on that day. See familyfiddlecamp.com for more
information, and a list of some great weekend concerts happening up there.

My friend and
guitarist extraordinaire Alex Finazzo just published his own website! Check it
out at afinazzo.com.

And in case you
haven't seen it yet, the fiddle and mandolin phenom (and Thursday Jam alum)
John Mailander has a website at johnmailander.com.

That concludes this
installment of the BanjoSlim eNewsletter! If you're still reading, thank you
very much for staying with me to the very end!